1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ophthalmic examination apparatus, and more particularly to an ophthalmic examination apparatus having ophthalmic diagnostic equipment devices that can be used as a portable or fixed system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ophthalmic diagnostic equipment devices known in the prior art include the fundus camera, used for diagnostic examination of the eye fundus; the slit lamp, used for diagnostic examination of the anterior portion of the eye; and the tonometer, used for measuring ocular pressure. These apparatuses are divided into fixed types used in a set location, and portable types in which part of the fixed type are omitted to enable the apparatus to be carried by hand.
There are also ophthalmic apparatuses that can be used as both fixed types and as portable types. Such types, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Gazette Nos. 131317/97 and 234184/97, are configured as a portable type ophthalmic diagnostic system that can be detachably fitted to a fixed type system.
However, while the portable part of the system functions as a portable diagnostic system, some of the functions remain in the main fixed part of the system, so there is a high degree of linkability between the portable and fixed portions. This means that portable type ophthalmic diagnostic equipment devices having another function cannot be fitted to the fixed type. Moreover, functionally connecting the portable and fixed types requires an electrical as well as a mechanical coupling, increasing the complexity of the connection configuration.
An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide an ophthalmic examination apparatus that is structurally simple and can be readily used as a portable type or as a fixed type system.
The present invention provides an ophthalmic examination apparatus comprising, a plurality of portable ophthalmic diagnostic equipment devices having different ophthalmic diagnostic functions, means for supporting each ophthalmic diagnostic equipment device in a way that allows each device to be freely exchanged, and means for spatially moving the supporting means.
The present invention also provides an ophthalmic examination apparatus comprising, portable ophthalmic diagnostic equipment devices, means for supporting each ophthalmic diagnostic equipment device in a way that allows each device to be detachably mounted and, when a device is thus supported, effects only a mechanical coupling with the device, and means for spatially moving the supporting means.
The present invention also provides an ophthalmic examination apparatus comprising, a plurality of portable ophthalmic diagnostic equipment devices having different ophthalmic diagnostic functions, means for supporting each ophthalmic diagnostic equipment device in a way that allows each device to be freely exchanged and that, when a device is thus supported, effects only a mechanical coupling with the device, and means for spatially moving the supporting means.